Quinoa salad with broad beans and preserved lemons
(serves four people)
By Michele Mueller, Chef de Cuisine, Beach House, Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi
Ingredients
Quinoa 200grm
Broad beans 100grm
Mint leaves 4grm
Parsley leaves 10grm
Preserved lemon 4grm
Method
Cook the quinoa in salted boiling water for around 12 minutes. Blanch the broad beans and cool down in iced water so they stay green. When fully cooled down, remove from the skin. Pick fresh flat parsley and fresh mint, only using the leaves and wash carefully under cold water. Chop the mint finely to release the flavour, while leaving the parsley whole. Only use the skin from the preserved lemons and cut in very fine strips. Make a dressing from vinegar and oil. Place all ingredients in a large salad bowl, mix gently and season well with salt and freshly-ground pepper.
Preserved lemons
Wash a large yellow lemon thoroughly. Remove stems from the lemon, cut the lemon into quarters lengthwise, but not all the way through! Carefully squeeze out the juice from each quarter over a large bowl.
Over the same bowl, sprinkle the inside of each juiced lemon with ¼tsp salt. Put the juiced, salted lemon in a clean jar with a tight-fitting lid. Ideally, they will be packed tightly together. Pour the salty juice from the bowl over the lemons. Add more lemon juice if necessary. Seal and you can set it aside for around four weeks.
